Kia reported a total of 79,198 units sold in Canada in 2021, making it the brand’s best year ever

• The company finishes 2021 with 7 months of record sales, despite challenging year for the industry

• Kia’s outstanding year includes an all-time record-breaking June, which saw the automaker’s best-ever sales month in their over twenty-year Canadian history

• Top sellers from 2021 include the very popular Seltos, Forte and Sportage

• EV and PHEV sales are on the rise for the brand, in support of Plan S

(Toronto) January 5, 2022 – Kia Canada announces a record shattering 2021 with 79,198 units sold making 2021 the best-ever year on record for the brand. This included 7 months of record sales (February, March, April, May, June, July and September) including their best-ever month in Canadian history, in June with 8,850 units delivered. This 2021 record was a 9.3% increase YoY, with top models Seltos, Forte and Sportage among the best-selling models. Kia was also recognized by J.D. Power as the number one mass market brand in the 2021 Vehicle Dependability Study, three Autotrader.ca awards, as well as two AJAC category wins for the first-ever Kia K5 sedan in the Best Large Car category and Best Large Utility for the 2nd year in a row for the award-winning Kia Telluride.

“Our success in 2021 can be attributed to our industry leading design, safety and technology, as well as our dedicated dealer network, who remained agile in servicing our customers throughout another pandemic year,” says Elias El-Achhab, Chief Operating Officer at Kia Canada. “As we look forward to 2022, consumer demand remains exceptionally high, leaving us optimistic for the year ahead with new and exciting models like the highly anticipated Kia EV6, set to arrive in dealerships early next year.”

Top Selling Models

Kia’s compact SUV, the Seltos, led model sales in 2021, with a total of 14,436 units sold, closely followed by the brand’s previous top-seller, the Forte, with 13,190 units sold. Sportage, the brand’s most popular mid-size SUV also saw notable sales, with 11,837 units purchased.

With the brand’s focus towards electrification, EV and PHEV sales were also on the rise in 2021. The long-standing Soul EV saw a sales percentage increase of 24% over 2020, and the Niro EV and PHEV saw increases of 152% and 21% respectively. This past year marks the highest sales of PHEV and EV models for the brand, totaling 4,720 units sold.

The success Kia has had is not only limited to new car sales, but extends to Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) models too. With 10 record-breaking months this past year and the brand’s highest CPO sales month ever achieved in June with 779 units sold, 2021 was an extraordinary year across the board. “The strength of Kia’s CPO program reflects the reliability and durability of our products that Canadians can depend on,” says Elias El-Achhab, Chief Operating Officer at Kia Canada.

A New Brand that Inspires

Kia Canada introduced a new logo and brand purpose, ‘Movement that inspires,’ that demonstrates the company’s vision for the future and is supported by the Plan S strategy, introduced back in 2020. With this announcement came a commitment to providing Canadians with 7 all-new plug-in hybrid or dedicated battery electric vehicles by 2025. This past year, Kia Canada introduced the first of these two models, the 2022 Sorento PHEV, which is available now in dealerships and the 2022 Kia EV6, the brand’s first dedicated battery electric vehicle (BEV) arriving at the top of the year.

Closing out 2021, the company launched Kia Communities in Motion, a partnership with Community Foundations of Canada that will see $1.4M donated to community charities over the next four years. This all-new program was developed to support movement in local communities providing charities and the recipients of their efforts, the time, space and funding to find inspiration to move forward.

Kia Canada, in partnership with Community Foundations of Canada launched Kia Communities in Motion. This program is inspired by Kia’s brand belief, ‘Movement that inspires.’ Movement is at the core of human development – through movement we see new places, meet new people and have new experiences. It is through this movement that we find inspiration. This all-new program is developed to support movement in local communities providing charities and the recipients of their efforts, the time, space and funding to find inspiration to move forward.

Through Kia Communities in Motion, Kia Canada is investing $1.4M over four years to fund projects in communities that will help build inclusive communities across the country. In the face of rising challenges such as the impacts of COVID-19, and the climate crisis, Kia Communities in Motion will create lasting change over the next four years, supporting people in inspiring and innovative ways.

Many communities, including immigrants, Indigenous communities, racialized communities, individuals living with disabilities and the 2SLGBTQ+ community face unique challenges in creating safe and inclusive spaces. Kia Communities in Motion is supporting moving grassroots efforts forward to create a future where everyone flourishes

Kia and CFC are working with community foundations on the ground to identify projects which will be selected in 2022.

QUOTES

“Kia Canada is thrilled to partner with Community Foundations of Canada on this important and exciting project. We believe in the good work community foundations are doing at a grassroots level across Canada. As Kia Canada moves forward with our new brand and ethos of “Movement that inspires” we saw an opportunity to support organizations seeking a similar mission, be it figurative or literal forms of movement, we can’t wait to see the exciting work organizations are doing to move us all forward.”

Elias El-Achhab, Chief Operating Officer at Kia Canada Inc.

“We are pleased to announce the Kia Communities in Motion program in collaboration with Kia Canada. Throughout the pandemic, we have witnessed the creativity and resourcefulness of the non-profit sector as it works to support communities. This program puts innovation at the heart of its approach and supports the work that is happening on the ground to build a future where everyone belongs.”

Andrea Dicks, President, Community Foundations of Canada